“There are certain things we do in Yoga which seem to aid Dhyāna
because they remove something which is blocking it.”
– TKV Desikachar ‘The Antaraṅga Sādhana, Saṃyama and Kaivalya’
Religiousness in Yoga Chapter Thirteen Page 186

“How does Vedānta differ from Yoga?
In brief, we can say that the purpose of Yoga is to change the state of mind,
so that it is less muddy.
In this effort, God may help.

The purpose of Vedānta is to become God…..
At an ideological level, Vedānta rejects Yoga’s idea of God as something potentially helpful,
beside that point it likewise rejects whatever is said in Yoga that does not take one toward God.

However, the VedāntaSūtra does emphasise the importance of sitting properly for meditation
and the Bhagavad Gītā speaks of the need for proper breathing.
All the Śāstra, in fact, accept the physical discipline of Yoga.”
– TKV Desikachar Chennai July 1981

अथ योगानुशासनम् ॥१॥

atha yoga-anu-śāsanam

“Now follow the teachings of Yoga.”

“Atha – Now in the sense of nowness.
By convention let there be something auspicious.
The Sūtra are different in the sense of not having a prayer dedication in the first Sūtra.
Thus Atha fills this role.
Particularly the letter ‘A’ which is a dedication.

Question to TKV Desikachar on Yama and Niyama:

“The idea behind Yama and Niyama is the attitude we have to the inside and outside.
If I don’t know what is true there is no question of telling the truth.
However there is the intention, because one day it may become a reality.
Even though some of these things are not there in the beginning, if the intention is sincere then one day it will become an action if conditions and our psychological state change.Yama as telling the truth also means discretion.”
– TKV Desikachar France 1983

“Each person possesses a body.
Encased in the body, as it were, he goes through pain and pleasure.
The pain and pleasure through the body arises because of contact with the external world.
However such variations of pain and pleasure do not happen to one absorbed in Īśvara.”
– T Krishnamacharya commentary Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 50

“Even when our understanding is consistent with our perception or repeated experience,
it does not necessarily indicate a fact.
For instance,
if we assume that a person is a woman simply because that person is dressed in a woman’s clothes,
this is called Viparyaya or mental activity that is based on something other than fact.Viparyaya, then, is comprehension based on a perceived characteristic in the observer,
which leads to false assumptions.”
– T Krishnamacharya’s commentary to Yoga Sūtra Chapter One verse 8